The Probert Encyclopaedia of Medicine

LUNGS

The lungs are organs used for respiration. Lungs are found as a pair in air-breathing vertebrates within the chest cavity and are responsible for aerating the blood - bringing fresh air to the blood and removing carbon dioxide from the blood. The lungs consist of air tubes which divide into very small tubes within the lung tissue. The heart pumps blood to the veins of the lungs, these veins divide into very small branches where the blood is brought into contact with the air in the air cells at the ends of the smallest divisions of the air tubes, the bronchi. Air is drawn into and expelled from the lungs through the trachea by means of the contraction and relaxation of the diaphragm and intercostal muscles.
Research Lungs